k him to the place where the Indian
stood. Bowing from his great height, which overtopped even the
Oriental's, he said with placid impudence:

"Good evening, sir. Do you want anything?"

Quite slowly, like a great ship turning into a harbour, the great yellow
face turned, and looked at last over its white shoulder. They were
startled to see that its yellow eyelids were quite sealed, as in sleep.
"Thank you," said the face in excellent English. "I want nothing." Then,
half opening the lids, so as to show a slit of opalescent eyeball,
he repeated, "I want nothing." Then he opened his eyes wide with a
startling stare, said, "I want nothing," and went rustling away into the
rapidly darkening garden.

"The Christian is more modest," muttered Father Brown; "he wants
something."

"What on earth was he doing?" asked Flambeau, knitting his black brows
and lowering his voice.

"I should like to talk to you later," said Father Brown.

The sunlight was still a reality, but it was the red light of evening,
and the bulk of the garden trees and bushes grew blacker and blacker
against it. They turned round the end of the conservatory, and walked in
silence down the other side to get round to the front door. As they went
they seemed to wake something, as one startles a bird, in the deeper
corner between the study and the main building; and again they saw the
white-robed fakir slide out of the shadow, and slip round towards the
front door. To their surprise, however, he had not been alone.
They found themselves abruptly pulled up and forced to banish their
bewilderment by the appearance of Mrs. Quinton, with her heavy golden
hair and square pale face, advancing on them out of the twilight. She
looked a little stern, but was entirely courteous.

"Good evening, Dr. Harris," was all she said.

"Good evening, Mrs. Quinton," said the little doctor heartily. "I am
just going to give your husband his sleeping draught."

"Yes," she said in a clear voice. "I think it is quite time." And she
smiled at them, and went sweeping into the house.

"That woman's over-driven," said Father Brown; "that's the kind of woman
that does her duty for twenty years, and then does something dreadful."

The little doctor looked at him for the first time with an eye of
interest. "Did you ever study medicine?" he asked.

"You have to know something of the mind as well as the body," answered
the priest; "we have to know something of the body as well as th